


Sweet Little Nothings

by itsaquinnquinnsituation



Series: X Years Later [9]
Category: Newcastle (2008)
Genre: Canon Gay Character, Canon Gay Relationship, Gen, M/M, Routine Sketch
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-29
Updated: 2014-11-29
Packaged: 2018-02-27 09:06:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2687090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itsaquinnquinnsituation/pseuds/itsaquinnquinnsituation
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Approximately seven and 1/4th years later.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sweet Little Nothings

**Author's Note:**

> None of the characters or the plot of the original movie belong to me. I am not making money off my work, which is written for entertainment purposes only.
> 
> This is my universe and exactly how I see it. Writing should be enjoyed, not judged.
> 
> I would have never cared to write out this bit - probably left it with all the other ones I see in my head and forget, but it kept replaying and replaying to the point that I decided to write it out just so I can move on. Very much a routine sketch, just like the title - it's really, really nothing. 
> 
> Special thank you to people who leave me nice comments and give me kudos - it always inspires me to write more! I appreciate all your support!
> 
> I highly recommend everyone to watch this movie.

“Hey!”

Jesse turned:

“What the hell are you doing here?”

“Where’s Andy?”

“He’s working” – He nodded at the ocean in the distance. The reflections of sunrays have coated it with a bright festive gloss. Jesse repeated: 

“So, what do you need?”

“Nothing” – Fergus chuckled with a somewhat bitter smile. Jesse always took a bit too long to warm up. ‘Course with over two decades of knowing each other, it would have been strange if Fergus had not been accustomed to it already, but that hardly made starting a conversation with his twin any more pleasant, - “I got a bit too sick of staring at the white walls. So I thought I’d drive over and have lunch with Andy… and with you as it happens.”

"You drove all the way from your office?"

"Yes, I did."

“Well, too bad, he’s busy” – Jesse cut off without looking.

“Okay. Are you free?”

Jesse seemed to ponder it for awhile, his gorgeous aquamarine eyes no less morose and annoyed, but before he had a chance to say anything, he watched Fergus sprout that sheepish smile on his face as he stared unblinking towards the ocean and as Jesse turned to follow his brother’s stare, he had barely half-a-second to step aside as Andy flew by him with an audible “whoosh”, waves of cold droplets flying in every direction, and threw himself on Fergus with such force that both would have surely toppled over right there on fine, tawny sand, had Fergus not taken a precautionary step back in anticipation of this assault, and as such, he’d merely wrapped his arms around Andy’s body, crispy white sleeves getting instantly wet.

Jesse shook his head.

“The hell are you doing here?!” – Andy repeated his friend’s question almost verbatim but his intonation was nothing like Jesse’s. He had finally pulled away enough to evaluate the damage his wet body had done to Fergus’s white shirt and black vest and if normally he would have apologized – even profusely – by god, did Fergus get mad if Andy placed damp clothes in the laundry basket at home – the smile that Fergus presented – and Andy mirrored – well, but of course – made that fine detail ever so small and irrelevant, - “We were just by the… when I saw your car, I couldn't belie… how come you… I mean… Why didn’t you tell me… wait, did I forget… was I supposed to…?”

Jesse kept looking between the two, eyes open big. Fergus was just smiling at Andy with the same soft genuine smile that finally made the latter shut up and when he did, he also just stared at Fergus, still ruffled and a bit out of breath.  

A boy of about seven interrupted the silent scene, pushing his way between Jesse and Andy, coming to stand so close to the latter, that Andy’s hand had to automatically land on the child’s shoulder.

“Oh” – Andy looked at the boy with a slightly embarrassed smile, caught so obviously off-guard that his face was all pure surprise - at being brought back to reality, no doubt, - “This is Christian, my student. Chris, say hi to my boyfriend.”

“Hi, Andy’s boyfriend” – the child looked at Fergus with such demure mistrust that Fergus had to laugh out loud causing Andy to start smiling again.

“I’m Fergus” – Fergus proffered his hand, which the boy took and gave it a tiny light squeeze, - “You’re ready to show off some skills?”

“I’m not very good yet” – the child hesitated.

“Oh, that’s alright. You’re probably better than me.”

“That’s probably true” – Andy nodded emphatically at his student and received a playful jab from his boyfriend, - “So, you taking a break?”

“Well, I’ve been promising you for awhile…”

“Ah, that’s so…”

“I’ve been trying to reach you” – Fergus gestured, - “But that was obviously useless.”

“His father” – Andy pointed to Christian, - “Had asked to meet an hour later. So I had already taken my lunch break, but if I knew…”

“Oh, that’s alright…”

“I am so sorry…” 

His eyes just burned, locked on Fergus’, so Fergus had to give him another one of his ‘that’s alright’ smiles as he turned to Jesse instead:

“Well, here’s to hoping that my brother is free.”

Jesse started:

“I…”

“He is!” – Andy slapped him on the arm, effectively shutting him up and offered, - “You can have my food, I don’t care.”

“Actually, I…”

Andy turned to Fergus again:

“What did you bring? Not that Giorgio’s pasta?”

Fergus chuckled:

“You know me too well.”

Andy laughed:

“No, *you* know *me* too well! Well, that’s a shame, but hey, you like that stuff, Jesse” – He turned to his friend again, - “We’ve had that before, it’s with that white spicy sauce, kinda like…”

“I know what that is, Andy, it’s like your favourite meal!”

“Great, well, that’s settled then” –He turned to Fergus again, - “I am so sorry, Fergs, I…”

“Not at all. You know, I don’t think I’ve ever seen one of your lessons, and considering I’ve been recently thinking of improving my skills in water sports, I should like to know if I might want to hire you as my coach…”

Andy’s cheeks momentarily flushed red, but before he had a chance to say anything, Fergus bent down to the child:

“So, little man, ready to show what your teacher is worth?”

The boy smiled a luminous innocent smile, turned and darted towards the ocean. Andy, covering his face with his hand and laughing, took off after him.

Fergus watched them.

“Cute little kid” – He turned to Jesse, who had thrown a relatively dry towel on the sand and sat on it. Fergus positioned himself next to his brother, - “Andy has told me a bit about him, but we’ve never met.”

“Chris is one of Andy’ favourites” – Jesse grunted, - “Kinda reminds me of you… when you were his age.”

“Why?” – Fergus took the food out of the bags, - “I was never that…”

“Pudgy? No, you were thin as a stick!”

“So were you!”

“You were thinner!”

Fergus buried his face in his hands and laughed:

“If you want.”

“Nah, I meant, he’s kinda... shy. Andy’s working on that.”

“Yeah, he did that too. With me, I mean.”

They looked at each other.

“That’s really…”

“You don’t have to…”

Both chuckled. 

“You don’t have to sit here with me if you don’t want” – Fergus proceeded quietly, - “I mean, if you really have better things to do.”

“I don’t” – Jesse blurted and bit his lip, - “Free food never hurts.”

Fergus handed him a box:

“Dig in.”

They sat in silence for a few moments.

“Took me awhile to find you guys.”

“Yeah” – Jesse nodded, - “We had to come out a ways. Too many people just by the hub. Christian is a bit unsteady on the board still so Andy’s being protective.”

“As always. And you, are you working today?”

“I” – Jesse gestured but did not speak, and then just frowned and took a bite instead. Fergus nodded and also returned to his food.

“What is this stuff anyway?” – Jesse pointed with his fork into his box, - “Is that like… sausage?”

“Oh” – Fergus laughed, - “Forgot about that. That’s polish kielbasa. Andy’s Mum had apparently dropped off a whole bunch in our fridge over the weekend along with some jars of jam, but I didn’t discover it there until last night when I was cleaning out the fridge. I don’t think Andy knows, I mean we were both working on Saturday - and Sunday – well, we were with you guys, you know that… I don’t think there’s anything special about it, but Andy and his Mum are crazy about this stuff. She buys like kilos whenever she finds it at the European Deli. So I took some with me to work and then when I dropped by Giorgio’s just now, I asked them to put it in Andy’s pasta. What, is that bad?”

“No, it goes really well with it… just…” – Jesse motioned.

“It’s a little weird, I know. But normally Andy’s really easy to cook for. I could never compete with his Mum, that’s a given, but he never complains. He’ll eat anything. He’s got it much worse with me.”

“Why?”

“I have some blood sugar problems. I have to watch what I eat and like how much of each stuff… It seems complicated to me, but Andy’s got his system for counting all the grams of sugar and protein and... stuff like that…”

“*He* does that for you?”

“Yeah. I don’t have the time…Well, and he’s good at maths… what?”

“Wait, so you cook his food – and he cooks yours?” – Jesse raised his eyebrows.

“Yes, generally… Yeah, I guess so… I’ve never thought about it, but yeah, I guess that’s how it usually is…”

Jesse chuckled and shook his head:

“And then the one time you actually make it out here and bring him his favourite food, he has to be busy.”

“Well, that’s just life. But it’s nothing. It’s such a small thing when you look at the big picture.”

Jesse shook his head again, picking at his food.

“How is it with you, really?” – Fergus asked cautiously, barely daring to look. 

“Fucked up. It’s like Mum and Dad really can’t make up their mind. When Scotty got locked up, they threw me out. Now that I got me a place, they want me to move back in.”

“What do you think?”

“I’m fucking sick of it all! I barely make the rent money ‘cause I can only get so many shifts at the diner. But to move back in with them – that would be living hell! They’ll fucking suffocate me and probably like dig through my room again! I don’t know – living with Nick and Nate is okay, but it’s kind of like… I don’t know, they are my friends, but sometimes they just annoy the hell out of me, loud all the time, laughing about the dumbest shit, kind of like…” – he motioned, - “I don’t fucking know.”

A moment passed, then Fergus said:

“I know what that’s like.”

Jesse turned to him, then turned away.

“I haven’t felt this way in awhile. But when I was growing up, that’s how I felt. All the time. All these people are there, and you can hang out with them and talk with them, but… they don’t really know you and not just because they don’t want to, but somehow they are incapable of it and just… sometimes it’s like you want to put your head through the window because you feel so isolated and sick. And then all these trivial things pile up on top of this all and annoy you… ”

Jesse didn’t respond and Fergus nodded, continuing:

“I could be wrong. I mean I’m only your brother. But if I had to guess… and the worst part is that even if I knew how you felt, I wouldn’t be sure that I would be able to help you…”

Both were silent until Jesse asked:

“Well, what did you do to… you know, back then?”

“I don’t know. I used to talk to Victor's grandad - remember the guy? And then... Later, I talked to Andy, probably. I think that probably helped.”

“What - you suggest that I should do the same?”

“Sure. Talk to someone. Anyone. You can definitely talk to Andy - he’s your best friend.”

“He’s yours – by definition….”

“I think that’s alright. I think we can share that.”

Jesse grunted.

“Although” – Fergus continued, - “You have to admit, I got a much better deal.”

“Oh my god” – Jesse howled theatrically, jumping up to his feet, - “No details, please, mate.”

Fergus laughed cleaning up the boxes. He stood up and put his hand over his eyes, then waved. In the distance, two figures, one tall, one short, started towards him. Fergus turned to Jesse again, his face soft, his brown eyes serious.

“I want you to know” – He said looking straight at his brother, who clearly did not have it in him to look his twin in the eye, - “Even if you don’t consider me your best friend, or even your friend at all, or whatever you want – I will always be there for you. Both of us will be. We are your family and that will never change. So whenever you are ready, you can come to us. Either one of us. Whenever you want.”

Jesse did not respond, just continued looking down.

In a moment, Andy and his student had reached them, bringing noise, energy, and fresh sunshine with them. 

“You did great, mate!” – Fergus offered the child high five.

“Were you watching?” – The boy jumped up to reach his hand, - “Did you see when like, when like that big wave came and I was… like I almost fell, but then I didn’t and it like went under me like… like… ‘whoosh’!”

“What’s up mate, how was the food?” – Andy touched Jesse, who was still looking down, on the arm. Jesse nodded. 

“Well, I gotta go, you guys. I have plenty of work and I still have to drive back.” – Fergus ruffled the child’s hair – “Nice meeting you, mate!”

Christian beamed: 

“Will you come watch me again?”

Fergus smiled and nodded, then squeezed Jesse’s shoulder:

“I’ll see you later?”

Jesse nodded, without looking:

“Thanks for the food.”

Fergus turned and grabbed Andy into a hug, once again rewetting his work shirt, which had by then all dried up:

“I’ll see you home then. Please don’t stay out late.”

“I won’t” - Andy whispered, even as Fergus started on his way back to the parking lot. 

All three were quiet for a moment. 

“He’s so cool!” – The child proclaimed suddenly, then looked up at Andy, - “Can he go surfing with us?”

“One day” – Andy nodded, - “Let’s get you dried off. Where’s your towel?”

“I’ll get it!”

When the child was gone, Andy turned to Jesse, still standing taciturn and demure:

“You okay?”

“Yeah” – Jesse snapped out of it suddenly and ran his hand through his hair, - “Nah, it’s just…” – He tried gesturing, but gave up and turned to look at Andy instead, and what he saw in his eyes made him sigh out, - “We should hang out more… N-no… I mean like… just like the three of us. You know? Only us three.”

“Yeah, sure” – Andy nodded gently, touching his friend on the shoulder, - “We’ll always be happy to. Our door’s always open. Whenever you want.”


End file.
